1. Standing for the truth in a whatever world Craig Olson, Crossroads International Church cicfamily.com & biblestudydownloads.com

2.  Truth is whatever you want it to be  But you must never assert your view of truth  The worst thing to be called is: “intolerant”  To be tolerant you must be intolerant of the intolerant!  57% agree: “what is wrong for one person is not necessarily wrong for someone else.”

3.  “To recognize and respect others beliefs and practices without sharing them.” – Webster  “All truth is relative to the community in which a person participates” – Stanley Grenz  “There is no hierarchy of truth. Your beliefs and my beliefs are equal” – Thomas Helmbock  “Everyone has a right to their beliefs” OR  “Every belief is right”

4.  Overview:Standing for Truth  Chapter 1:Christ: our common saviour  Chapter 2:Dealing with deception  Chapter 3:Living our new life together

8.  Paul didn’t start the church, Epaphras did.  Epaphras visits Paul in Rome  Colossians written with Philemon & Ephesians  Letters sent with Tychicus & Onesimus  Did not recover from the earthquake in 60 AD  “The most insignificant town Paul ever wrote to”  Yet two NT letters are written to Colosse

9.  Spirit is good; matter is evil  Humans are souls trapped in a body  Intermediaries between Godhead and creation  The world was created by an imperfect god  Secret knowledge only some would attain  Asceticism  Traces of Gnosticism predate the Christian era

10.  Recognize the cost of not standing for truth  Keep preaching, and explaining the truth  Emphasize Christ’s superiority  Don’t attack the person, attack the deception  Pick your battles: What doctrines are worth fighting over?  Stand for truth against tolerance. (Remember this letter outlived the town.)

11. Black

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